Moonlight
by Kaiai
Summary: This is the sequel to Later in Life so if you haven't read my first three stories read those first. This story follows the pack and how they have to deal with human problems and their family problems as well.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: So I'm not Annette Curtis Klause so I don't own anything from her book, just the stuff I make up.**

**So yeah I'm back and this is the new and slightly improved Moonlight. I know I know, I've been gone a long time from the Blood and Chocolate scene but I'm here now and that's what counts. The reason I've been gone so long is that I was in a car accident last September that messed up my hand pretty bad. If you want the full details it's on my profile towards the end of my bio. And yes I have been cheating on BAC with VA but I've decided to write them both at the same time. So I hope you all enjoy this as much as you enjoyed the poorly titled Blood and Chocolate Sequel, Fire and Ice, and Later in Life.**

**Thank you all for being patient here is the new chapter one.**

1

"You might be the leader's son but I'm still your father and you are underage in the human world so no."

"But I'm an adult in our world, isn't that what counts?" Alex asks angrily.

Gabriel and Vivian both look at each other then back at their son.

They answer in unison, "Nope."

"How can you say no? Mom dropped out," he says pointing to her. She tilts her head and crosses her arms.

"You want to know how I can say no?" she asks softly. "I can say no because I'm your mother and that is final."

Alex storms out of the cabin and to the rocks where Nova is waiting. He doesn't wait to see if his father is going to add anything.

"They said no I'm guessing," she says holding her hand out to him.

"They wouldn't even consider it even after I told them I would work at the diner."

"Yeah Esmé wouldn't go for it either," she says leaning against him.

He wraps his arm around her shoulders, "I'll kick anyone's ass, male or female, that dares to say anything about you."

She smiles up at him, "I know."

They don't talk for awhile but then Novalee turns and looks at him.

"You really said you'd work at the diner?"

He sighs and nods, "Yep I thought it would show some responsibility. I mean it would be a paying job that is not anything like the inn."

"It's almost exactly like working at the inn," she points out.

He shrugs, "It's not owned by my parents."

She sighs, "We'll just have to get through it," she says twisting her hands.

Alex takes her hand in his, "I don't care what they say. They're just humans. They don't know anything about us."

"I know Alex it's just different for me."

"How is it different?" he asks immediately regretting it.

She pulls away and glares at him, "Hmm I wonder."

"Look Nova I'm sorry I didn't mean it like it sounded."

She turns her back, "Goodnight Alex," she says jumping off the rocks.

Alex runs his hands through his hair and closes his eyes. After a deep breath he gets up and heads back home.

* * *

Kole stared up at the ceiling. At around eleven his brother slinked back.

"You awake?" he asked a little above a whisper.

"Yep."

"Are mom and dad here?"

"Nope, they left a little while after you."

"Great."

"So what was all the yelling about?" he asks. His brother had collapsed on his bed as well.

"Nothing that matters anymore," he grumbled.

Kole made an annoyed sound and turned his back towards his brother.

* * *

Juliee sat in her room staring out the window. She had heard her brother come back in but not her parents.

She didn't know what was going on but she knew something was up.

She was going to find out.

* * *

"Things were so much easier with you," Esmé said sloshing her wine around in her glass.

Vivian glanced at her mother amused, "How so?"

"Well for starters you had him," she said motioning towards Gabriel. He raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything.

"Okay so how does that matter?"

"He wasn't a sixteen year old boy in high school."

"No he was just a twenty four year old man you wanted all for yourself," Vivian reminded.

She waved that away, "That's beside the point. Gabriel won the Ordeal, he was pack leader, he wasn't a stupid high school boy."

"That stupid high school boy you keep referring to is your grandson."

"Oh I'm done with this," she says downing her glass, "what's done is done and there's no way to change anything."

"And besides we're getting a little ahead of ourselves," Vivian adds. "We have till April before the little one will be here."

"Oh yes April, that is so comforting," Esmé says rolling her eyes. "Novalee is sixteen, she's a sophomore in high school what will the humans think when they see that? What kind of questions are we going to have to endure? Maybe we should just home school all of them."

"Since when do you care about the opinions of humans?" Gabriel asks breaking his silence.

Esmé turns her eyes on him, "Since they started hunting the hunter."

Vivian's mouth twitched into a frown. She didn't like thinking about anything concerning those idiot humans.

"I say we let those two find their own paths. Alex is right, even though he's wrong about being an adult, he is right. It's up to him what he does but I don't think he actually will drop out. I think both he and Novalee will see it as a challenge. All of those humans are expecting them to fail because of something we find natural so they will work hard to prove them wrong."

"Nicely said Vivian," Gabriel says with a smile. She smiles back and Esmé snorts and rolls her eyes.

"I hate that we have to live like this," she says filling her glass to the rim with an almost empty bottle.

"Novalee and Alexander shouldn't have to suffer the humans scorn because of their twisted views on our way of life. We should be able to live how we've lived for our entire existence in peace."

Vivian agreed but knew it wouldn't happen in this time.

"They will be fine," Vivian says patting her mother's hand. Esmé had been changing her mind on the Novalee-Alex problem with every sip of wine. First she was thrilled about having a great grandkid then she was furious. First she was quoting pack law then she was talking about human standards.

"Well I'm going off to bed now," she said getting to her feet. Regardless of drinking a bottle of wine she walked straight out of the dining room and out the back door.

Gabriel and Vivian watched her until she disappeared.

"Well what do you think?" Vivian asked her mate.

Gabriel stretched and put his hands behind his head, "I think that we are going to have a new pup in the pack."

Vivian rolled her eyes and thought over the others in the pack.

"Brigitte is next then Audrei and Aurelie."

"Don't forget about Jaime, but not till January."

"So many females," Vivian sighed. She looked up at Gabriel through her lashes. "Do I need to be on my guard?"

Gabriel rubbed the stubble on his chin, "Vivian do we need to relive our memories?

She tilted her head, "Gabriel," she shook her head, "let's go home."

Gabriel stood and offered his hand to her.

She took it and he pulled her straight to him, he kissed the top of her head and they left, locking the door behind them.

**Okay so what did y'all think? Can I...am I allowed to ask for reviews after being gone so long? I hope you review on this. Oh and if any of you were wondering Later in Life ended on (in the story) July 11th. This story is starting (in the story) on July 15th. So it is still summer in the story. If you have any questions about characters, plots and twists just review and I'll get back to you!**

**Thanks again guys! Review!**

**~Kaiai**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I'm not Annette Curtis Klause so I don't own anything from her book, just the stuff I make up.**

**Hey hey! Here's chapter two! Bet you didn't think this would ever happen huh? Haha well here you go, enjoy.**

2

School wasn't bad.

Well it wasn't bad yet. Novalee was sure it could get much, much worse. And the fact Brigitte kept talking about all the stuff Novalee was going to need was making things harder to keep under wraps.

"Hey beautiful," says a golden honey voice from behind. She turns just as he wraps his arm around her waist, pulling her close. "Hey yourself," she says leaning her head against his shoulder as they walked to their second period. They had three classes together this year. Second period Geometry, Fourth Period World History, and Seventh Period Biology.

"Wanna skip out on Geometry?" he asks guiding her through the mill of students.

"No, I want to go to class and get school over with."

He looped his fingers in her belt loop, "Okay, okay, but still, Geometry? Lame."

"Of course, you think all classes are lame."

"They are," he says kissing my cheek.

They pass Brittany as they walk by, she sneers at them but they just ignore her.

Just like Novalee planned to do for the rest of the year and the years after.

Alex let her go to allow her to enter the classroom.

* * *

High School.

Finally.

Kole was sad his best friend Chase couldn't be here with him but at least Chase had his sister and cousins. Sure Kole had the rest of the pack just a grade ahead but none of them really wanted to hang out with Kole.

About then is when he ran into Audrei and Aurelie.

"Hey Kole," Audrei said stopping her sister. Aurelie glanced at him and smiled.

"Hey Audrei, Aurelie," he said nodding to both of them.

"Liking high school?" Audrei asked.

He shrugged, "School is school, I'd rather be doing something worth my time than be here."

"Like what?" Aurelie asked raising an eyebrow.

He ran his hand through his hair, "Working at the inn, my dad had me start helping with the new construction and I just, well I'd rather be there, I really enjoyed it."

The warning bell signaled and Aurelie grabbed Audrei's arm, "See you later Kole," they said in unison as they went down the hall.

He watched them as they disappeared down the hall before going to his own class.

* * *

Audrei and Aurelie walked arm in arm to their next class, Biology.

"Bloody moon he looks just like Gabriel," Aurelie said to her sister.

"I know, he's…."

"Hot," she said finishing the sentence.

They both smiled.

"He's just a year younger," Aurelie said nudging her sister.

Audrei laughed, "Yeah and he's related to Alex."

Aurelie gave her twin a sideways glance, "And that's a bad thing?"

Audrei thought it over, "I guess not. So since Alex is off limits and you are obviously pushing me towards Kole, who are you looking at?"

They got to their class at that time and the only answer Audrei got was a smile.

* * *

Austin watched her toss her auburn hair in agitation. He couldn't help but smile. As if she could feel his eyes she turned.

Brigitte narrowed her eyes as a wicked smile took her lips. He smiled back and looked towards the door. Her smile grew as she slinked out of her seat.

They were in English and the teacher wasn't there. He followed after her. She led him to the janitors closest that always seemed to be unlocked and deserted.

"Missed you," she said turning as he closed the door.

"It's been two hours," he said pulling her close.

"So?"

He kissed her instead of answering.

* * *

Jaime blew her new bangs out of her eyes. She was bored out of her mind.

But then things got interesting.

He was tall, he was tan, he was gorgeous.

Jaime pushed her hair out of her face to stare.

_So this is one of the ones_ she thought.

Gabriel and Vivian had held a meeting a week ago saying that a small pack from the Arkansas-Louisiana area had lost most of their home and their pack. Gabriel and Vivian had been down to see them earlier and had decided to provide shelter.

There was supposed to be about thirteen new _loup garoux_ joining their already huge pack. And this was definitely one of them. She could see it in the way he held himself.

"Class we have a new student," Mrs. Wilson said motioning towards the door. "This is Bret Dubois."

He gave a shy wave.

Jaime was hooked.

His seat was across the room and as he sat down he glanced at Jaime.

He recognized her too.

* * *

"Oh my Moon!" the three girls said in unison.

Chase wanted to rip his hair out. His sister and cousins wouldn't shut up about the two new _loup garoux_ boys that showed up in their class today.

"They're twins! Can you imagine how much fun we'd have!" Destinee and Felicite squealed. Liana rolled her eyes, "Fun for you maybe."

The twins happy expressions fell just a click, "Oh Liana I'm sure there's plenty more where they came from!"

Liana smiled a bit and then a lot as the two guys walked over to their table.

"Hey," said one, "Are you the Wagners?"

Felicite and Destinee took over then.

Darell and Corbin L'Isle, twins no sisters no more brothers.

_Great, more guys to add to the pack._

**Poor Chase, anyways this chapter was just to let you see into the heads of some of the pack. I hope you liked it!**

**Thanks for reading! Review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I'm not Annette Curtis Klause so I don't own anything from her book, just the stuff I make up.**

**Okay here is chapter three, enjoy!**

3

"Where's Brigitte?" Novalee asks sitting down beside Audrei. The boys were dragging another table over so everyone would fit.

Austin snickered and Nova shot him a dirty look. "She has first lunch, by herself."

Everyone went quiet for a second before bursting into laughter.

"How'd she manage that?" Alex asked from two seats over.

Marc shook his head, "I dunno, I think our dad's responsible. They got in a fight over something. Austin, have any clues?" he asked punching his shoulder.

Austin punched back, "Don't know what you're talking about," he said with a wolfy smile.

That's when Jaime rushed over, "Oh my moon guess what!" she said squeezing in between Nova and Audrei.

"You skipped third and I had to cover for you?" Nova threw in.

Jaime grimaced, "Yeah well good reason for that and he's leaning against the gym wall right there," she said pointing to a guy.

Aurelie and Audrei giggled, "Who's the hottie?" they asked in unison.

The boys just narrowed their eyes and tried to be macho.

"He is Bret and he's new, and by new I mean he's a new one of _us_."

"Well why is he all the way over there?" Aurelie asked resting her chin on her hands.

Jaime shrugged, "He's kinda shy."

"We can fix that," the twins say getting up.

The group watched as the two girls flitted towards the gym, their identical blond curls swishing back and forth.

"Where are they going?" Kole asked joining them.

"Kole!" Marc said pushing the trays the twins had left away to make room. "Can't believe you have lunch with us."

Kole threw Marc's arm away, "Why is that a surprise?"

"Brigitte really is the only one," Nova said snickering.

Kole shook his hair out of his eyes, "What?"

Everyone just laughed as they covertly glanced at the twins and the new wolf.

* * *

Brigitte had her eyes closed, her elbows resting on her desk, her hands clasped.

_Thanks a lot dad_, she thought. All of her friends were at lunch where they'd be for the rest of the year, and Austin….

Just thinking of Austin made her smile. That sexy sandy brown hair, perfect tan and those green eyes, hot. Sure she left him once for Alex who weirdly enough is Austin's nephew…but regardless. Alex was fun, Austin was…real.

And Austin _and_ Alex were with the rest of the pack at lunch while she was sitting in World History.

"Hey," said a snarly voice. Brigitte looked up to see a girl just as she sat down on the desk in front of her. She had that emo look to her. Dyed white blond hair on top with black underneath. Extensions that fell over her shoulders were all different colors. Her short choppy bangs were colored rainbow. "You a Moonlighter?" the girl asked with a stuck up nod.

Brigitte instantly went on her guard. "Depends, what the hell do you mean by that?" she asked leaning back in her chair.

The girl shot her an evil smile and leaned in closer to whisper so only Brigitte could hear, "Do you run with moonlight?"

Brigitte jerked back.

The girl's smile widened showing teeth that at first glance looked perfect and white but were sharp and dangerous to anything within their grasp.

"I'm taking that as a yes, names Adelisa," she said slipping into her chair as the teacher came in. "Who are you?"

"Brigitte," she said, still not quite trusting.

Well Brigitte we're going to have some fun this year."

* * *

"Oh my moon Novalee I already can't stand her!" Brigitte said slamming her books down beside her.

Novalee was slightly amused, everyone seemed to like that phrase today. "What's wrong?"

"New girl, us kind of new, hate her."

Novalee pushed her notebook away, "Who is she?"

"Her name's Adelisa she's some emo wolf who drove me crazy all through my history class. She wouldn't shut up talking about how much fun we're going to have together. Then she asked about all the males in our pack and how many were our age, if I had brothers. I hate her."

"Just because she asked about the pack?"

"You haven't met her yet," she said slumping forward. "Oh ugh I don't think I can take this, have you had French today?"

Novalee nodded, "Yeah."

"What'd we do?"

"Nothing, just went over the syllabus."

"Thank the moon, I'm cutting out early, you happen to know where your brother is?"

Novalee rolled her eyes, "He's in French."

Brigitte cursed under her breath as she gathered her stuff, "Oh well, I'll see you later."

Novalee watched as Bridge left. If Bucky found out she'd be worse off than not having the same lunch as everyone else.

"Mind if I sit down?" a voice asked.

She turned, the new guy, Bret, was grasping the chair in front of Novalee.

"Sure," she said moving her feet off of it.

"Thanks," he said taking a seat.

Awkward silence followed and allowed Novalee to look him over.

When the twins had gone off to him she thought they'd bring him over but they ended up staying over there talking to him till lunch was over.

He was deeply tanned and his brown hair was bleached almost blond from the sun. His eyes were amber brown and she kept catching them.

"So I couldn't help but overhear you and…."

"Brigitte," she supplied.

He half-smiled, "Brigitte talking about Adelisa."

"Oh yeah, she have a story?"

He leaned back, "I guess you could say that. Her mom died in the, well she died, it's just her and her dad. I would like to say she's harmless but I'd be lying."

"Oh, that's always a good thing."

He chuckled, "She's just good at manipulating people."

"So how many are there of you?"

He ran his hand through his hair, "Thirteen, six adults and seven _pups_," he said like he resented the word.

"Do you have any brothers and sisters?" she asked.

His smile turned grim, "I did, they, along with my parents are gone now."

"I'm sorry."

"Thanks, and thanks for not saying _you understand._"

She refrained from telling him about her own bloody past.

**Okay well there you have it, some new pack members, always gotta have those. Well I hope you liked this chapter.**

**Thanks for reading, review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: Okay I'm not Annette Curtis Klause so I don't own anything from her book, just the stuff I make up.**

**Okay here is chapter four, enjoy!**

4

Alex was sitting in his French class. Marc and Austin were sitting in the desks on either side. "Why are we even taking this class?" he asked.

"Because the elders require us to learn French so we can keep our heritage," Marc and Austin say sarcastically.

Alex huffed. The pack was big on tradition, it was the reason why almost all of the pack had names with French origins.

"Well my oh my this is a pretty site," a girl says sauntering over.

All three of them train their eyes on the strange girl. She had dyed hair that much Alex could tell. It was white on top and black on bottom then her bangs were colored to look like a rainbow and the longer parts were colored as well.

"Who are you?" he asked.

She smiled, "I'm Adelisa pretty boy, who are you?"

"Alex, this is Marc and Austin," he said nodding to his friends.

She licked her lips, "Well Alex, Marc, and Austin, if you're part of the pack then it looks like this place isn't going to be boring after all."

Alex could only stare as the girl turned and went to an empty seat.

The boys glanced at each other with the same expression stamped into their face.

_What. The. Hell._

* * *

Biology, last class of the day, _thank the goddess._

She was sitting at her desk conveniently located by the window. The desk was built for four and none of the humans had sat with her so she hoped Alex got his ass down here as soon as possible.

And just as the thought whispered in her head he appeared.

"Novalee fancy meeting you here," he said taking the seat beside her.

"What a coincidence," she says turning towards him. "Comment était le français?"

"Uh huh," he said smiling.

She rolls her eyes, "How was French?"

"Oh well it was different."

"Different?"

His face turned down, "You're about to find out."

A girl with crazy dyed hair lumbers towards us. She slips in the chair in front of Alex and smiles. "Well hello there," she says with a deep accent. "Looks like you met my little friend," she says to Novalee.

Novalee's brow quirks as she glances at Alex, "Little friend?"

He rolls his eyes, "Novalee this is Adelisa, she's new."

"Pleasure to meet you," Adelisa says with a sharp smile.

"Adelisa try not to bother everyone," says Bret as he slips into the chair beside her.

She pouts, "Bret, Bret, Bret, you are just no fun."

"Then copy me and be quiet."

She stuck her tongue out at him.

So this was Adelisa, the new girl Brigitte hated. She could relate.

**

* * *

**

"Thank the goddess that's over," Brigitte said taking stride next to Novalee and Alex. They went to the parking lot where they parked the cars.

Audrei and Aurelie walk along with Jaime who are followed by Marc and Austin.

"Where's Kole?" Alex asks looking around at the milling students. "If he doesn't hurry he's walking."

Most of the pack walked to and from school because the bus didn't go out to the inn. Alex and Nova were the only ones that could drive at the moment and for the first day Gabriel had allowed them to take the two vehicles from the inn.

Novalee kissed Alex's cheek, "You can wait for him, we're leaving." She dug the keys out of her bag and went to the Jeep Cherokee that was already filling with the girls. Jaime was up front turned around to talk to the others about Bret.

Novalee shot Alex a smile before she closed the door and revved the engine.

He scowled back and searched the crowd for his brother.

"Let's just leave him," Marc says getting into the passenger seat, cranking up the radio.

Austin ducks in the back, "Yeah come on he's late. He knows the rules."

Alex grimaces, "Fine."

He gets in and they take off towards the highway.

"So what do you think of the new chick?" Marc asks turning down the volume.

"Scary as hell," Austin says stretching out in the back seat.

Marc and Alex laugh, "Besides that," Alex says.

Austin sits up and leans towards the front, "Well she's not for me."

"Yeah because you're too busy doing goddess knows what with my sister in the janitors closet."

Austin smiled, "Did she tell you about that?"

Marc pushed Austin back and aimed a punch. Alex swerved as he tried to break them up. "Hey driving! Watch it!"

Marc leaned back in his seat. He wasn't actually mad he was just giving Austin a hard time.

"She didn't tell me, I overheard her and Jaime."

"Ah Jaime," Austin said, "of course."

Alex smiled. Jaime knew everything about anything. He used to think she was annoying but now he was beginning to warm up to her.

"So is there a meeting tonight?" Austin asked.

Alex shrugged, "Probably, I mean I knew the new pack was coming but I didn't think they'd be in school with us today."

"What's the point of living in the same house with the alphas if you aren't going to snoop?" Marc asks shaking his head.

"It's not like they talk about pack business all the time."

"Useless," Marc says cranking the music back up.

**Oh Marc, he's just so much fun to write. Well I hope you enjoyed, the chapters should slow down about now. So what do you think about Adelisa? Bret? Interesting huh.**

**Thanks for reading, review!**


	5. I'm Sorry Don't Get Excited for a Chapt!

**Authors Note**

Hey guys sorry for not updating in forever. If you go to my profile page there is a reason.

A good reason.

:D

Promise!

Love Kaiai


	6. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I'm not Annette Curtis Klause. So I own nothing from her book, just the stuff I make up.**

**I know I know. You're probably thinking, WHAT? IS THIS REAL? Well, yes, yes it is. This is a new chapter. Hope you enjoy.**

5

Kole cursed most of the way home as he trudged through the woods. Alex and the rest had left him. He was two minutes late.

"My, my you have quite the vocabulary. Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?" Kole stops and slowly turns away, his muscles tensed. He's taken aback by the girl leaning against a tree. Her hair is a mess of colors and her eyes are dark and mischievous.

"And who are you?" he asks, subtly sniffing at the wind. He catches here scent and it dawns on him that she's one of the new wolves.

"The question is Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome is, who are you?" she says, a devilish smile on her painted lips. She saunters over to him, keeping her eyes narrowed as if he were her prey. She takes his arm and measures his muscles, "Man you're ripped for a young pup."

His cheeks redden and he rips his arm away from her, "I'm not young, I'm fourteen."

She licks her lips, "You look familiar, why is that?"

He narrows his eyes as he studies her, "I get that a lot, I look like my father."

Her eyes widen, "Oh my moon, you're the leader's son." She looks him up and down again, "I heard he was more golden boy than dark and mysterious."

Kole rolls his eyes and starts walking again, "You heard right, that would be Alex." She picks up pace beside him, "Alex the hottie is the leader's son? Huh, he didn't say anything, you'd think he'd have mentioned that when we met."

Kole shrugs, "Can't answer for him."

She loops her arm with his, "So that makes you the little brother, I figured you to be more little when we had the rundown of the pack. Like elementary school little."

"Sister, maybe you missed my name in orientation," he says, tossing her away.

"Well what is it?"

"Kole."

She giggles, "Well that suits you now doesn't it."

"Whatever," he says, taking off at a run.

"Don't tempt me with a chase Kole Sylvain. I always get what I take after."

When Kole makes it back to the Inn he goes in search for his brother. He finds him hanging out at the new gazebo in the back lot. Marc and Austin are both there as well. Kole smiles as he walks up to them. Alex stands up, "Where were you we waited for ages."

Kole doesn't bother to answer him with words but rather a punch square to the face. Alex stumbles back but doesn't lose his footing. The look of shock is all Kole needed to be satisfied, he takes off towards the Inn to start back into his work from the weekend. He can hear Marc and Austin questioning his sanity but he doesn't care. Alex needed to be hit, everyone needs a good punch in the face to get the sense knocked back in them, and that had been a long time coming.

* * *

"What the bloody moon was that about?" Alex asks, slumping to sit on the floor of the gazebo. He rubs at his eye that he can already tell will be bruised.

"I guess we shouldn't leave him anymore," Marc says, barely containing his laughter.

Alex strikes out with his foot and nails him, causing him to fall off the bench. "Hell Alex, it's your own fault."

"You're the ones that told me to leave him!" he grumbles.

"And right there lays your problem," Austin starts, "peer pressure, you shouldn't let yourself become its victim. You have a say in your life Alex, don't let others make your decisions."

"Would you like a matching shiner Austin?" Alex offers.

"Yeah I think I'll leave now," he says with a grin. Austin hops over the railing and disappears towards the cabins. Marc rolls over to lie on his back. "So, forgetting these past few minutes. What do you think about the new wolves?"

"Well I'd probably have to meet them all to get a feeling about them."

"I was actually thinking more of what happened last time we had new pack members."

Alex closes his eyes, memories pushing at his mind. "Let's not go there."

* * *

"Sooooo," Audrei begins, drawing out the 'o'.

"What?" her twin asks, looking up from her magazine. They were in their rooms, Aurelie perched on her bed, her feet in the air as she flipped through some trash teen magazine. Audrei was sitting on the floor, leaning up against her bed. "Is it weird between you and Novalee at all?"

Aurelie blanched, "No!"

"You see, that was not very convincing."

Aurelie sits up, dangling her feet off her bed. "I mean it's not like Alex and I did anything."

"But still, they're having a baby together, and you dated him. That could have been you."

"But it's not," she says, a little too forcefully. "And besides I'm not really looking for a mate to start having a litter with. I like my figure how it is, and having a baby right now would just not work."

Audrei narrows her eyes, "You know being your twin I can tell when you're lying." Aurelie throws her magazine up in the air. It clatters to the floor, the pages smooshing into the hardwood floor. "If I'm lying about anything it would be about not wanting a mate right now. Sure I'd be happy to have someone but I don't want to start repopulating the pack right now. We have enough members without more little ones running around."

"Um hmm," Audrei says, stretching her legs. She ducks as the pillow Aurelie throws sails towards her.

"What about you? Are you looking towards anyone? Maybe a new deeply tanned boy?"

Audrei blushes but not for the reason her sister thinks. "He is hot isn't he? And that twang of an accent he has! I could just eat him all up," Aurelie says, a wolfish smile on her lips.

"He is good looking, that's for sure," Audrei adds, hugging the thrown pillow to her chest.

**So how did you like the chapter? Did you enjoy it? Did it suck? Were you surprised by anything (other than I actually updated)? I hope you enjoyed it, I enjoyed writing it and I hope to finish this story up rather soon since I made you guys wait so long for it. So if you do decide to review leave me with a number for how many chapters you think this should be. And I'm open to any input from any who cares to give it. You never know, I might use your idea, I've done it before!**

**Thanks again, I really appreciate everyone who reads this. You guys are amazing, I'm so sorry I kept y'all waiting for so long! Thanks for reading, please review!**

**Kaiai**


	7. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: Not Annette Curtis Klause, don't own anything from her book. Just the stuff I make up.**

**Well here is chapter six! Woo for another update I think? Well I hope you guys enjoy it!**

6

"What happened to you?"

Alex cringes. He had hoped that he could get to his room without anyone noticing him. He stops and gives a sheepish grin to his dad, "I fell?"

"You fell on your eye?" he asks, raising a brow.

Alex shrugs and rubs the back of his head, "Yeah I mean it's not like the eye is a very protected place on the body. It's all vulnerable and stuff just sitting there on the face. And when someone falls unexpectantly they don't automatically think, 'Oh no! Not my eye!' it's more of a 'oh shit this will hurt'."

Gabriel crosses his arms and stares. Alex contains his nerves, that stare could freeze the ocean. Alex walks farther into the room, giving his farther a wide berth. He heads towards the kitchen. But he doesn't get there unscathed.

He stops his fall by throwing out his hands. He pushes himself over and glares at his dad, "What was that for?"

"Just to illustrate my point, you threw your hands out to protect your face. So, how did you manage the black eye?" At about that time is when Kole walks into the room, smugly he answers for Alex, "I think it had something to do with my fist."

Gabriel glares at both of his sons before he grabs Alex by the collar of his shirt. He hauls him up and shoves him towards the couch. Alex tumbles into it. He settles himself for what he knows is going to be another lecture, one of many he would most likely receive in the months to come.

"Kole, sit," Gabriel snarls. Kole sits as far from Alex as the couch allows. Gabriel takes a breath before launching into a tirade.

Alex keeps his eyes on the coffee table as his father yells about responsibility to the pack, how our behavior reflects onto him and our mother.

"And you," Gabriel growls, pointing to Alex. Alex meets his father's eyes. "You are going to be a father, you forfeited the rest of your childhood to raise a child. If you don't start acting like the adult you claim to be I won't have a choice in your discipline."

Alex's blood turns cold, "What?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about Alexander."

Alex's eyes go wide and he jumps to his feet, "You're threatening me with expulsion when I didn't even do anything? What kind of sick twisted idea is that? I'm your son and you'd kick me out of the pack because I got punched by my brother?"

Gabriel folds his arms and stares Alex down, "You know the Law, better than most Alexander. I have more than one reason to expel you from the pack. You're on thin ice, don't think that being my son saves you from a judgment I would pass easily on Marc or even Bucky, Willem and Ulf. Everyone follows the same rules."

"Except you of course," Alex growls. He regrets it immediately as he watches his father's hair bristle, his teeth sharpen.

"Is that a challenge Alexander?"

Alex can hear Kole suck in a breath. Alex bows his head and sits down as fast as he can, "No sir."

"Get out of my sight, both of you. If I hear so much as a peep about you two misbehaving again you'll be stuck in your skin for a week."

Alex and Kole both rush to their room, neither of them speaking to each other, Kole out of sheer confusion as to why Gabriel had been so angry and Alex out of fury.

* * *

Novalee sits on the porch, waiting for Alex. He was supposed to meet her before the pack meeting but he still hadn't shown up.

Brigitte and Austin join her, letting the screen door slap closed, the hinges crying in protest. "Are you coming or what?" Brigitte asks, tapping Novalee on the head.

Novalee brushes Brigitte's hand away, "I guess, Alex never showed up," she says, looking around for maybe a glimpse of him coming up to the cabin.

"Oh, you didn't hear?" Austin asks, biting his lip.

Novalee stands up and jumps off the stairs, her feet calling up a cloud of dust, "Hear what?"

"Alex and Kole, yeah let's just say we probably won't be seeing them much anymore."

"They're okay, not buried under the rose bushes or anything?" Nova asks, twisting her shirt in her hands.

"They're alive but they got in some deep shit with Gabriel. I don't know the details, just what I overheard when mom was talking to Vivian."

The trio head off towards the woods. There was a new meeting place. The pack was getting too big to squeeze into Gabriel's cabin anymore. So deep in the woods, where no humans would accidentally stumble upon in the middle of the night, was a new pavilion. There were picnic tables in rows and then at the end on a makeshift stage were chairs for Gabriel's family.

Novalee's eyes immediately went to Alex. His arms were crossed and he was scrunched down in his chair, his eyes on the floor. She could barely make out the shadow of a black eye on him. She immediately wondered if it was from Gabriel but Austin quickly told her different.

"Man his eye is black, Kole packs a punch."

Brigitte squeaks, "Kole punched him?"

Austin rushes off into a story about Kole and Alex but Novalee doesn't listen. She takes her seat at one of the tables closest to the stage, sitting next to Esme. Austin has to leave Brigitte since the new arrangement is by family, he sits next to Novalee, elbowing her in the process.

Novalee glances over the Sylvain's. Gabriel and Vivian are sitting in the middle, chatting over something. Alex, Kole and Juliee are sitting off to the site, angled so they can see everyone. Alex is closest to Gabriel and he refuses to look in his father's direction.

She couldn't help but stare at him, he wasn't like his siblings. Kole looked exactly like Gabriel, though he wasn't as tall as his brother or father. He was built like a mini Gabriel, muscles and all. His hair was pitch black but his eyes were green like Vivian's. Juliee didn't look anything like Gabriel, but she had his attitude. Juliee was the spitting image of Vivian when she was younger. Growing up with Esme had allowed her to see all of the pictures of Vivian from when she was a teenager. Juliee with her blond hair, bright green eyes, and mischievous attitude was going to eat hearts for breakfast.

But Alex, oh Alex, he was like the perfect combination. He had shaggy tawny hair and ice blue eyes. He was just an inch shy of his father in height but he made up for it with his strength. He didn't look overly ripped like some of the guys at school. He was perfect in a way only a loup garoux could be. Just as that thought flitted through her mind Alex looked up, their eyes met and she couldn't help but smile. His smile looked pinched but she could read his thoughts in his eyes. He was sorry for not meeting her. She nodded at him and his smile relaxed.

Then the meeting began.

**Well, well, what did you think of Gabriel and Alex's little fight? Might make things interesting, don't you think? And wonder what's up with Kole? Interesting things to come, and I'll even let you in on a secret, drama as in mate drama will be starting soon. But I guess you'll never imagine who it's between.  
**

**Thanks for reading guys, I really appreciate it! Review!**

**Kaiai**


	8. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I am not Anette Curtis Klause, so I own nothing from her books, just the stuff I make up.**

**Sorry, this chapter was supposed to be up last night but I don't know, fanfic went wacko. But it's here now. Enjoy!**

7

Chase was slumped forward, his chin resting on the palm of his hand. He hated pack meetings. They were in the new meeting place, they had only had two meetings here before. It was a huge pavilion filled with picnic tables. There was a little stage where the pack leaders sat with their kids. Andrew looked around, his family took up the most room. Chase was a Wagner, and the Wagner's made up most of the pack. At his table were his grandparents Raul and Magda, his parents Finn and Aimee, his twin sister Liana. They were squeezed into the table. At the surrounding table was the rest of his family: Rolf, Renata, Willem, Aveline, Gregory, Madeleine, Destinee, Felicite, Mason, Aurelie and Audrei. The Wagner's made up most of the pack, and the crappy part of that meant there weren't many choices for mates for them, especially him.

His dad elbowed him in the gut, forcing him to sit up. The new pack members were going to be formally introduced. When the murmuring of the pack went suddenly silent, Chase didn't need to look up to see that Gabriel had stood. He had that air about him. Chase couldn't imagine having anyone else as pack leader. No one could control a crowd like him. Well, maybe Vivian but that was a different story.

"I know we've had trouble in the past with adding new members to the pack. And believe me when I say we've been over and over this with these new wolves, they understand our Laws fully and understand where we are coming from with them. But tragedy has struck them much like it has struck us. And who are we not to accept them into our pack? We have plenty of room. And with that I would like to let you all know that we've added the Manchester's, our neighbors on the west side, land to ours. They signed the papers of their farm over last week."

Murmurs wandered through the pack. That was a lot more room for us to run. Gabriel waved back the silence. "We are also in works with our neighbors on the east side to gaining some of their acres. Plans for expansion will have their own meeting to any who wants to work with a construction crew. We're going to be expanding the visitor quarters and pushing the pack deeper into the woods. So that basically means that most of you will be getting new living quarters. Which I'm sure will excite many of you since I've had a long list of complaints."

"Damn straight," Chase's grandmother chimes. Chase lets his head fall to the table.

"This doesn't mean you have to leave your home, it's completely up to you. But the new cabins will allow more seclusion from the humans. The humans would have to go out of their way to get through the woods and we're going to be making sure that the boundaries are secure."

"Sit up Chase," his mother scolds. Chase listens, sighing as he glances back up at Gabriel. Vivian is still sitting, her legs crossed, staring off at something.

"Now I'd like to introduce you to our new pack members. Gabriel hopped off the stage and walked over to a table at the back of the pavilion. Chase turned, almost in tune with the rest of the pack. There were two tables of new faces. A heavily muscled man stood up as Gabriel reached him. Gabriel put his hand on the man's shoulder, "This is Blayze Prideaux and his daughter Adelisa. A girl with crazy hair merely waves, not even bothering to stand up. Her father shoots her a look but she ignores it. Gabriel moves and introduces the rest. Corbin and Darell are introduced with their mother Estella and their cousins Bret and Aleron.

Chase perked up when two younger girls were introduced. They looked either his age or just a bit older. Carina and her parents Francine and Delrick and Emmalyn with her parents Ivonne and Dillen, maybe things for Chase would improve.

* * *

Alex was still pissed, he was probably going to stay pissed for a very long time. He heard random names as his father introduced the new wolves but he really didn't pay nearly enough attention as he should.

Expulsion. His father actually threatened him with expulsion. He was reeling, if his father actually did go through with his word then he would be stripped of his title as leader's son and labeled a lone wolf, someone to watch out for, not to fully trust. And he wouldn't be allowed in the pack, he wouldn't be allowed anywhere near it without confrontation for however long the leader deemed fit. He wouldn't even be allowed to see Novalee, and with that, his child.

He could feel the anger build back up, it drummed in his ears. A firm hand on his shoulder made him jump. His mother had moved and was standing behind him. She leaned down and whispered in his ear, "Let it go Alexander."

She let him go and moved to go stand by Gabriel. They continued to address the pack. Alex wanted nothing else but to leave. He would love to see his father turn to introduce him only to find an empty seat. But Alex stayed seated, knowing that it wouldn't do him any good to skip out. Gabriel turned and motioned to Alex.

"And my oldest son, Alex will make sure your children settle in with the younger wolves."

Alex managed a curt nod and a forced smile. Alex met Gabriel's eyes and held them, ice to ice.

His mother made the glaring contest stop. She pulled Gabriel away and they continued talking to the new wolves. The meeting ended ten minutes later. Alex had to stay around to meet the young wolves, something he was really not looking forward to.

Adelisa, the girl from before sidles up to him, "So what's up Goldilocks? You and daddy seem to have issues."

Alex rolls his eyes and sits on one of the picnic tables. Seven people sit before him, one unfortunately, being Adelisa, four guys, three girls.

"Can I have your names again?" Alex asks, ignoring Adelisa.

The youngest girl chirps up first, "Emmalyn but you can call me Emma," she says, a huge smile. Alex softens and smiles at her, "Nice to meet you Emma." She smiles wider. "How old are you Emma?" Alex asks.

"I'm thirteen."

"Great, you're the same age as the younger Wagner's, so you'll be in their grade." Emma doesn't look as thrilled as she had been before. Alex looks around and notices Chase and Liana still hanging around, waiting on their parents. "Liana," Alex shouts. She nearly jumps out of her skin. "Come here."

Liana glances at her brother before walking over. "Liana this is Emmalyn, she's going to be in your grade. Hey Emmalyn were you in school today?"

Emmalyn shakes her head, "Me and Carina stayed here."

"Oh, Carina what grade are you in?"

Carina was a thin girl with brown hair and hazel eyes. But despite her small frame she looked like she could hold her own.

"I'm a freshman."

_Great._ "You're in the same grade as my brother Kole." Alex looks around but Kole is long gone. "Well you'll come with the rest of us then."

This goes on and on for another fifteen minutes as he figures out how everyone will be going to school. Adelisa teases him throughout the entire ordeal and Bret, someone he could grow to be friends with, shuts her up.

When he finally gets to leave he doesn't wait to meet with his father who is still there talking to the parents. Alex heads straight for the woods.

"Goldilocks wait up!"

Alex comes to a stop, he closes his eyes, "Adelisa leave me alone."

She snakes up beside him, running her hands up his back. He jerks away, "What the hell?"

"What?" she asks, a snarky smile on her lips. "We're both adults and adults like to play."

"Yeah I don't think so Adelisa."

"What? Don't tell me I have to challenge someone to get you?"

Alex, an answer at the ready, turns. But he doesn't need it. He smiles as he see's Novalee, a fist full of dyed blond hair in her fist. "I dare you to even think about challenging me bitch," Novalee snarls. She tosses Adelisa away from her. Adelisa steadies herself before she flies to the ground. She gives off a hysterical little giggle, "Wow someone is insecure." Adelisa straightens up, "But it's really not up to either of us is it? Alex chooses who he wants to be with."

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but he's chosen me."

Adelisa looks Novalee up and down, making Alex bristle. "For now," she says. With one last glance at Alex, Adelisa slinks away into the woods.

Novalee growls as her eyes watch Adelisa's retreating figure. Alex touches her arm and she jumps. She recovers quickly and punches him in the arm. Alex blocks the blows and grabs her hands, "Nova what the hell?"

Novalee jerks her hands away. She points her finger at him, "Alexander I will rip you to pieces, understand?"

Alex rolls his eyes, "Seriously Nova? You're jealous of that?"

She doesn't answer just glares at him before taking off herself. Alex watches after her and shakes his head. He was never going to ever understand her.

**Well what did you think? Adelisa...she's fun don't you think? Poor Alex, things look to be getting interesting. I hope you enjoyed, review and tell me about it!**

**Thanks for reading, review!**

**Kaiai**


	9. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: Not Anette Curtis Klause, don't own anything from her book, just the stuff I make up. (Which to be honest is all of it besides a few of the original characters.)**

**Well here is chapter eight. I promise there will be more Nova and Alex chapters but there are a few key things that this chapter covers that just needed to be in here. And I think we're seeing a side of Alex that we really need to see at the moment.**

8

_Journal,_

_ Thin ice. I don't know why I'm going so crazy, probably hormones or something, but I swear if that girl puts so much as another paw on Alex she's going to be running on three legs. I don't like her. She's a bitch in every sense of the word. I won't say I hate her but, I sure as hell don't like her. And ugh, I hate this. I hate being jealous, I shouldn't be. Alex loves me, I know he loves me. And, we're having baby. Oh my moon, we're having a baby. Bloody moon. _

_Novalee_

The next few days were not good for me. Wait, no. Let me rephrase. The months of August and September were absolute and total hell. Gabriel, not even going to call him father anymore, Gabriel was on my ass every day. Alex passed out on his bed, his aching muscles yelling at him. After school Gabriel had him and Kole working around the clock at the new construction. Gabriel had made up a whole new set of plans for the Inn. The main building that had the drive through the trees was still of course going to be the main building. But now it had a huge stone patio with tables outside and a huge barbeque pit.

Apparently some big-shot vacation person had stayed at the Inn a few weeks ago and wrote some rave review about how wonderful this place was. We were having a lot more business, which was strange. Then again mom had decided to open one of first floor rooms as a conference room so we were getting more business retreats.

Sure it allowed them to continue their lifestyle but Alex was not a fan of humans much anymore. Going to school was different. There, teenagers were predictable, adults? You never know what they're going to do when they get suspicious.

But there was so much construction! Alex heard Kole come in but he didn't acknowledge his brother, something that was becoming routine. He was still furious with both Gabriel and Kole. But the threat Gabriel was holding over his head, was not doing him any good. Gabriel reminded him of it every time he looked at him.

* * *

Kole glanced at his brother passed out on his bed. Kole didn't blame him. Their dad was being a bit of a hardass. Kole sits down on his bed and leans against the wall. Alex was in deep shit with their dad.

When Gabriel had been yelling at them he thought they were just going to get the typical lecture, but he was wrong. He ended up threatening Alex with expulsion from the pack. Which, Kole hated to admit, he was completely in the right to do so. The pack had rules, Laws, and when you disobeyed them you were punished. The Laws weren't put there for fun, they were there for protection.

And being the leader's son, while sure came with some perks, did not make you exempt from them.

And Alex did break one of the more important rules in the book.

* * *

Audrei was sitting in one of the fields on the outskirts of the main lawn. She could just hear the creek and it was slowly lulling her to sleep.

She had come here to get away from her sister. She loved having a twin but being identical had its hardships. Humans could never tell them apart. Aurelie loved to play tricks in school. They use to switch places all the time. They used to get in so much trouble that is until their parents had them put in all the same classes to put an end to their switching.

Audrei turned in the grass to lie on her stomach. She ripped a few strands of grass, taking a deep breath and relishing the warm smell of soil. She was so confused. Her and her sister had talked about all the males in the pack, even the new ones, and Aurelie had agreed on Kole's hotness and had even hinted a little that Audrei should go for him. But then she backtracked and started saying that Kole was just like Gabriel and he had a temper, great example being Alex's black eye at the pack meeting. Audrei could hear her sister's words echoing in her head.

"Well yeah, he's hot, no doubt about that. But after dating Alex I wouldn't touch Kole with a ten foot pole. No amount of hotness could make me go for him. He's just a little too broody, and angry, and he's prince wolf, he comes with a lot on his plate. I mean sure Alex is first but there's rumors that him and Gabriel are nowhere near good terms. Which means Kole might have to stand up, and would you want that kind of stress?"

It was a lot to mull through but Audrei understood where her twin was coming. Audrei hated the spotlight, she liked the behind the scenes stuff. She could never be alpha material and you needed to be if you were going to date a leaders kid. And if anyone screamed alpha it was Alex and Kole.

Especially Kole.

* * *

Jaime was taking a walk in the woods, hoping to have the meadow to herself. But Audrei was there so she skirted around and took off deeper into the woods. Her paws dug deep into the earth as she ran. She loved to run by herself, she was a lot smaller than the rest of her friends and it made her feel a little self conscious.

She slowed to a walk as she neared the creek. She dunked her paw into the water, it was freezing. She shook the water from her fur and leapt over the creek. Pebbles slipped under her paws sending her backwards but she quickly gained her balance. She hopped forward and her nose caught a scent.

She raised her muzzle and breathed deep, she didn't recognize it. Her eyes immediately scanned every nook and cranny around her. Finally they set on wolf standing under a group of pine trees. She narrowed her eyes and bared her teeth. The wolf lowered his head, showing he was friendly. She looked him over but the light brown wolf was still not familiar.

That is until he changed.

She couldn't keep her eyes from staring if her life depended on it.

* * *

"Seriously? You're doing this right now?" Alex groans.

"I'm sorry that my timing isn't to your liking prince but seeing as how you're still my son and have to listen to what I say, I think I can choose when I talk to you."

Alex rolls his eyes and groans. His mother ignores it and closes the door behind her. She goes and sits on Kole's empty bed. "Alexander please, I just want to talk to you."

Alex waves his hand, "Go ahead."

"I know what your father told you and we both know that it is a possibility. And I want you to know that I love you and I always will, regardless of the stupid decisions you make. And he loves you too, but he can't put you over the pack in this case. Alex, I know you and Novalee love each other, and I know that this wasn't planned but it happened. And it was against pack Law, and it brings a lot of curious eyes to places we don't want nor need them. You're supposed to be setting an example for your brother and sister as well as the rest of the pack. I've been in your situation. I was the daughter of a leader, it's a lot of pressure being the leader's kid but you'll have to tough it out because it's never going to go away. And you're going to be a father, and for one I am not happy about being a grandma, do I look old enough to be a grandma?"

Alex rolls his eyes, "Mom, what's your point? I get you love me and are disappointed with me I can't help either of those. You're kind of stuck with me just like I'm stuck with Gabriel."

Alex looks away from the icy stare he gets from his mother. "Alexander, I'm trying to tell you something that will make you happy but you're making me rethink the decision."

"Happy? How, going to tell me we're having a boy?"

Its moms turn to roll her eyes. "I won't be telling you that it's going to be a surprise just like it is for everyone."

"Just please, tell me it's not twins," Alex asks, closing his eyes.

"It's not twins, that much I'll tell, though my line doesn't have a history of multiples your father…well his sisters were triplets."

Alex's eyes flare open, "Hell no, no, no, no, you are not saying we're having triplets. Three kids? I'm a kid how am I supposed to raise three kids while I'm still a kid? One! One I can handle but three, please oh moon please no."

Vivian looks amused as she watches Alex squirm, "Alex calm down, though I'm happy to see you're worried about being a father now. You're not having triplets either, just one, I promise."

Alex falls back into his pillows, relief flooding through him.

"How's the cabin coming that you and Kole are building?"

Alex glances at his mom, "It's nearly done, why?"

"Well your father and I decided that we don't want another screaming pup in the house so we're kicking you out in April."

Alex flies up, "What? Are you serious?" His mom just smiles, "But don't get crazy ideas in that head of yours Alexander, there are so many rules, so many rules they're going to make your head spin."

**I have a soft spot for Jaime, you'll find out why soon I'm sure. And what do you think about Kole? Hmm? And who do you think the light brown wolf is? **

**Thanks for reading, review!**

**Kaiai**


	10. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I'm not Annette Curtis Klause. I don't own anything from her original book, just the stuff I make up.**

**Here's a chapter for ya. Enjoy...well, try to enjoy...**

9

"What?" Nova asks, eyes wide.

"Yep, you heard me, this is ours come April," Alex says, he twirls around the unfinished walls, "this is the kitchen, this is going to be our kitchen."

Nova shakes her head and sinks to the ground. She leans against a stack boards. Alex stops twirling like a maniac and kneels down in front of her. He takes her hands and kisses her knuckles, "Nova, this is ours. We're going to raise our pups here, we're going to live here, love here."

She continues to shake her head, "Alex, this, this is too much too fast. I…I we're having a baby. We're sixteen and we're having a baby. I know for us it's normal but I don't feel like it is."

Alex's smile fades, "Nova I know that this is going to be hard."

She stops him, "No, you don't know anything. You don't have to do anything other than claim it's yours and you don't even have to do that. You could write me off easily and go off with someone else. You don't have to have this pup, you don't have to go to school and face all of those hateful humans being pregnant. It is going to be hard, hard for me."

Alex lets her hands fall from his, "Nova, you think this is easy for me? Do you even know what this means for me? I'm in line to be leader, do you know how much pressure it is being Gabriel's son? Do you know how much pressure it is with that plus breaking pack Law? I'm lucky I'm still in this pack."

"Do you know how much pressure it is being a of age female with a pup on the way and all of these readily available females standing by waiting for you to get tired of me?"

Alex shoots to his feet, "I knew it! I knew you were still pissed about the Adelisa bullshit. How can you even think I'd look at her?"

Nova stands up, "Because I know you Alex. If I hadn't gotten pregnant, our relationship, Adelisa would have come and ripped it apart."

Alex backs up, "Why are you saying this Novalee? You know how I feel about you."

She looks at the floor, "At first Gabriel and Vivian were good about everything, the pack recognized us as mates, but now they're holding the laws against us."

"Nova, seriously, what are you talking about? Why are you bringing this up, what does it have to do with anything?"

She looks up, straight into his eyes, her sapphire blue eyes brimming with tears. "Alex I, I don't want to be with you anymore. I can't handle this. I can't handle being your mate and what it means to the pack. I can't be the reason you get kicked out of the pack."

It felt like someone stabbed him, or rather was ripping him to pieces, "No, you don't mean that Novalee. You can't mean that. We're having a pup, we're having a baby, you can't do this."

She raises a brow, "I can't? I have full ability to reject you as a mate. Just because we have a pup doesn't mean we have to be…together."

Alex closes his eyes and runs his hands through his hair, "Let me get this straight. You don't want to be with me, you're breaking up with me because you don't want to be a leader and you don't want to risk me getting expelled?"

Alex can hear her sigh, he can almost picture the expression on her face. "Alex I don't want to ruin you. You're a good wolf, you're going to be a great leader one day. I'm proud that our son or daughter will have you as a father but, I just can't be with you right now."

"What does that mean!" he snarls, throwing his hands in the air. His eyes narrow to hers, "I love you Novalee, if someone told you different then I'll rip them to pieces, how can you think you'll ruin me? You've made me so much better than I was, I, I can't lose you Nova. Don't, don't do this."

"It's done Alex. We're through."

Alex stands there, dumbfounded. She bites her lip before putting her hand on his shoulder, "I'm sorry Alex, but this is for the best."

"Do you love me?" he asks, avoiding her gaze.

She closes her eyes, "I did."

He shuts his eyes with her voice, he can hear her footsteps leave him, but her scent stays behind, burning his nostrils. Her words repeat inside his head, _I did_. His world had just turned upside down. When he had brought her out here he had been so excited. This was going to be their house, where they would raise their pup. Now, this place was ruined. This was the place Novalee stole his heart and shredded it. How could things completely 180 like this. What seemed like only moments ago they had kissed and embraced, how was it that now they were separate? Broken up, finished.

* * *

Novalee's breath was shaky and broken up as she walked home. She didn't know what came over her. She actually broke up with him. She broke up with Alex, the father of her pup, and former love of her life.

But with everything that had happened recently, Novalee had been doubting a lot. She had been idly thinking about it but never intended to actually end things.

She barely realized she was opening the door to the cabin until Austin greeted her.

"Hey Lee, you and Alex go for a romp in the woods?"

Still not fully aware she stopped by the side of the couch he was lounging on. "We broke up."

Austin laughed, "Sure you did."

"We broke up," she repeated. "I broke up with him. I really broke up with him. We're broken up."

Austin, wide eyed, flashes to a sitting position. "Wait, you're serious?"

Novalee's eyes snap to his, tears finally bursting free, "We broke up," she cried. Austin caught her before she crashed to the floor.

* * *

Gabriel found Alex at one of the work in progress cabins. His son was just standing there, staring into space.

He surveyed his son before approaching, assessing what could be wrong. "Alex?" he says, trying to get his attention. Alex looks at him with a blank stare and mutters something.

"What?" Gabriel asks, scanning his son up and down. Something felt off and a parent's natural worry aspect started up.

"Expel me."

**Um...yeah. Probably not what you were expecting huh? Heck, I wasn't expecting it and I wrote it! But sometimes things work out this way, better ideas happen when you start on a chapter regardless of what you want to happen overall. So do you hate me?**

**Thanks for reading, review please? I'd like to hear the comments on this one.**

**Kaiai**


	11. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: Ugh. Read previous chapters disclaimers, it hasn't changed since my FIRST one of these.**

**Um, yeah, enjoy! Do I need to say sorry in advance? Maybe...probably...yeah, sorry! **

10

It was cold. He was cold. But he stayed there, lying on his back, staring up at the sky. He didn't know what else to do, he couldn't think of anything else to do.

* * *

Austin was sitting in on the couch once again. He had gotten Novalee to her bed, his ears allowed him to hear her crying even through the closed door.

The front door opened, spilling laughter into the still room. "Austin what are you doing awake?" his mother asked, his father trailing in behind her. Esme must hear Novalee because her eyes dart towards the bedrooms, "What's going on?"

Austin opens his mouth and pauses, trying to form the words in his head. "They broke up."

Esme's eyes widen, "What? Alex and Novalee?"

Austin nods and watches as his mother's eyes flame up with anger. "I'll kill him," she says, marching towards the door.

"She broke it off," Austin adds, sinking into the couch. He can hear his mother come to a stop. "She?"

"Yep."

Forgetting about killing her grandson, Esme rushes off towards Novalee's room. Tomas comes around to the couch and plops down beside Austin. "Well, this was unexpected."

Austin glances at his dad, "Tell me about it."

* * *

Kole was staring at one of his textbooks when his mother pushed the door open. Kole glanced up, "Hey mom."

"Kole," she says, a slight smile, "I need you to do something for me."

He sits up, pushing his books away so she can sit down. She looks at Alex's empty bed before turning to him. She smiles at him and pushes his hair out of his eyes, "You need a trim."

He shakes his head, causing his hair to go crazy, "Nah I like it like this."

She rolls her eyes and ruffles his hair, "Just like your father, so stubborn about your hair."

"What did you need me to do?" he asks. She drags her eyes from Alex's bed to meet his. They both had the same green eyes, but hers always held something in them that his could dream of.

"I need you to tell everyone that we'll be having a pack meeting tonight, but not till you get to school okay? Don't worry about the little ones, Juliee will tell them."

"Why do I have to tell them, that's Alex's job," he says, glancing to Alex's side. He still hadn't come home yet.

"Well I can't very well tell Alex if he's not here now can I?" she asks, ruffling his hair again. "Just do me this favor Kole."

"Fine," he sighs.

She smiles, brightening up the entire room. "Good." She gets up and as she reaches the door she stops and turns. "And Kole, don't fall for Adelisa's tricks. She might seem like something but I promise there's something better for you."

She doesn't give him time to react. She closes the door with a little snap, leaving him alone and staring. _How did she know?_

* * *

"What is your problem Austin?" Brigitte snaps. He had been ignoring her all morning. Alex wasn't going to school today so Novalee was driving one of the trucks, most of the pack was sitting in the back but Brigitte had secured the two inside seats for her and Austin.

"I'm just not feeling well," he says, managing a small smile for her.

She rolls her eyes, "Whatever, don't tell me what's bothering you." He sighs and puts his arm around her, "You are ridiculous, nothing's wrong other than my head is pounding."

"Why did you come today then? Should have stayed off with Alex."

Austin glances at Novalee. Her eyes stay focused on the road but her hands tighten on the steering wheel, as if she thinks he's about to spill.

"Vivian might be lenient but Esme? I'd have to be bleeding out before she'd let me stay home."

Austin thanks the moon when Brigitte lets it drop. She sighs and leans back into the seat, leaning her head on his shoulder. He strokes her hair as he stares out the windshield.

When they get to school everyone hops out. They all start to go their different directions when Kole calls out, "Hey wait everyone."

Austin stops and turns, as does everyone.

"Meeting tonight, same time and place."

"For what?" Jaime asks, confusion marring her face, the others mirror her. Kole shakes them off, "I don't know, I was just told to inform."

He heads off towards the school, leaving everyone behind. Austin exchanges a glance with Novalee but her face reveals nothing. Austin shrugs and puts his arm around Brigitte, "Guess we'll figure it out tonight."

With that everyone heads off towards class.

* * *

Still confused and curious Jaime walks off towards her English class with Novalee. "How're you doing Lee?" she asks. Novalee jumps, not noticing that Jaime was beside her.

"Um, okay, I guess," she mutters.

Jaime looks her up and down, "Sure," she says, crossing her arms. They walk the rest in silence. English is just as boring as it always is. The one class Jaime looks forward to is World History, the class she has with Bret, and only Bret, no other pack. When the bell rings she races off towards it. She picks her normal spot in the back. She takes out her notebook and starts to doodle aimlessly. People filter in, filling all the seats away from her first, as if they knew she was dangerous. She didn't really consider herself dangerous, she was puny compared to some of her friends. And she was timid, she didn't like fighting.

"Can I sit?" a voice asks, giving her chills. She looks up to see Bret smiling down at her, his hand resting on the chair of the desk beside her. "Don't need my permission," she says, her own smile plastered on her face.

She barely contains a sigh as she watches him move, he's so damn graceful. She looks back at her notebook, but is soon interrupted by a tap on her shoulder. She turns to see Bret leaning towards her. "Sorry about last night."

Her eyes widened and she could feel her cheeks turn bright red. "Oh my gosh, no I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything by gro…" she stops and looks around. "I didn't mean anything, I just," she looks him up and down, "didn't recognize you."

He gives a nervous laugh, "Yeah, I didn't recognize you either, that is until I came across your scent. Sorry for that by the way, I understood why you ran off. It's just, it's been awhile since I've had somewhere to run."

She nods, "No it's fine, it's just we haven't had luck really with newcomers, I really shouldn't have taken off."

He puts a hand on her knee, "Seriously Jaime, you're fine."

She stares at his hand, the bell ruins her chance of responding. He turns, moving his hand, as the teacher walks in. She turns in her seat too, breathless.

Hours later, Jaime was early to the meeting. Her little sister was driving her crazy so she decided to cut out of her house early. She wasn't the first one there. Some of the Wagners were there as well as the older new wolves. She takes her seat at their designated table. She rests her head on the table and wonders what this meeting could be about.

Her nose catches her father's scent. He sits down beside her, putting his arm around her, "Sweetheart," he says, kissing the side of her head. She smiles and leans into him, "Hey dad."

He pats her arm before letting her go. "Any idea about this?" she asks, nodding towards Gabriel and Vivian. They're sitting in their spots, Kole and Juliee too, Alex, missing as usual.

Her dad shakes his head, "No clue."

She narrows her eyes at him, she doesn't believe him. He seems to know because he keeps his eyes trained every place other than her. She lets it go as the rest of the pack saunters in. Baylei runs over and sits down beside her. Their mother follows, sitting by Baylei instead of Ulf. Jaime glances at her parents but they're faces reveal nothing.

Jaime glances around the tables. Novalee is sitting diagnolly from her, she waves and Novalee returns it halfheartedly. A hush falls over everyone which means Gabriel has stood. Jaime trains her eyes on him, he looks grim. A tinge of worry strikes up at her, she didn't like that look on him.

Gabriel takes a breath before speaking, his low voice echoing like thunder. "Many of you have inquired why I have called this meeting. I have told many it's only to deal with pack business, as if it was a light subject. But it is not. I have called you here for a judgment."

Murmurs whip around, Jaime stares wide eyed at her leader. His eyes are sharp, watching everyone before quieting them down. We have Laws for a reason, to protect us and ensure we survive peacefully. We have some that we are lenient with some that I have been lenient with but it's time I fix this. Our pack has grown, we have several pups still growing and some that are becoming adults. And by becoming an adult that means finding a mate, some find them when still young and that is a beautiful thing. But as the leader I have the say in approving the matches and giving permission to have pups. I have not given permission for pups in a very long time due to our numbers. A big pack draws attention and our pack has had too many brushes with humans."

Jaime's eyes immediately went to Novalee. She could tell from here that Novalee was holding her breath. Jaime didn't know where Gabriel was going but she couldn't imagine it was anywhere good.

"With that I have to do something I'd rather not, but Law is Law, and I'm leader, I owe it to our members not to show favor, especially towards my own. Alexander Nicholas Sylvain, step forward."

* * *

She was cold. The warmth ran out of her as her blood iced. The words were like knives to her ears, "Alexander Nicholas Sylvain, step forward."

Novalee braced her hands on the table. She could feel eyes on her but her eyes were on Alex, he had appeared out of the shadows to the left. He walked forward, his head held steady, his gaze on his father.

He stopped in front of Gabriel. Gabriel put his hands on Alex's shoulders and Alex knelt. "You have gone against my word, against our law, regardless of accident or not, you disobeyed. Your decision causes eyes to be drawn to us because of your age, something we can't afford after these last few months."

Novalee couldn't breathe, she didn't know where this was going. She didn't want to know where this was going.

"Do you admit to your fault?"

Alex hangs his head, "Yes."

"Do you understand my reason for calling judgment in front of the pack?"

"Yes."

Gabriel looks to the pack, "You have all heard him admit his fault so you know I am just. Alexander stand," he says, taking a step from his son.

Alex stands and turns towards the pack, his eyes set on the aisle that runs straight down the pavilion.

"Alexander Nicholas Sylvain, I expel you from this pack. I condemn you to a life as a lone wolf until I decide otherwise or you prove yourself elsewhere. I forbid you from entering pack territory or asking for shelter from this pack after this meeting."

Novalee felt like her heart was in her throat. Alex had his eyes closed as his father spoke. "No one will help you here," Gabriel says softly. With that the entire pack as if on cue turned their backs to the aisle. "I order you to leave and not return until you are called."

Novalee was the only one still facing the aisle. Alex opened his eyes to see his entire pack, their backs to him. Novalee watched him step off the makeshift stage. He stopped and closed his eyes, as if praying. Then she watched him burst forward, his feet landing as paws. His wolf form raced from the pavilion and disappeared into the night.

"May the goddess be merciful," Gabriel whispers. Novalee is frozen, staring at where Alex had just been. She can hear someone call her name but it takes Austin shaking her shoulder before she realizes her name was called by Gabriel.

"Novalee please step forward," he calls again.

* * *

Austin, realizing Novalee wasn't going to be able to make it on her own, takes her arm and escorts her to the front. Gabriel nods his head and allows him to stay by Novalee's side.

"Alexander's last wish was for your judgment to be laid on him, I have obliged."

Austin feels a weight lift from his heart, from the way this was going he had been afraid that Gabriel was going to banish Novalee as well. Apparently Novalee had had the same idea because she passed out as soon as Gabriel finished speaking. Austin stumbled under her weight but didn't fall. Austin caught a look of worry flash across Gabriel's face. Austin realized something then and there.

This wasn't Gabriel's idea.

Kole rushes up to help Austin with Novalee. Austin glances once more at Gabriel before he and Kole carry Novalee off to the side. Austin sits down against a tree right outside the pavilion, holding Novalee in his arms, her head resting right under his chin.

He closes his eyes as he listens to Gabriel.

"Some might question me, wonder how I could banish my own son, my first born, but I dare you to challenge me. I am the leader and I am bound to follow the Law just as you. Let this show you that I do not play favorites like some have accused me of doing."

Austin's eyes shoot open. Gabriel is staring, or rather glaring at someone but Austin can't see who it is.

"There are other matters to discuss but they can wait until next week. If anyone wishes to speak to me, wait until tomorrow."

An explosion of chatter begins as Gabriel turns away from the pack. Austin watches as Vivian walks up to Gabriel. She walks right up close to him, their noses nearly touching as she looks into his eyes. They say nothing but she nods.

"Did that just happen?" Kole asks, making Austin jump. He hadn't realized Kole was still standing beside him. Novalee is still out. Austin hugs her closer, "I think it did," he says, wishing his sister would wake up now.

* * *

It was cold. He was cold. He was still alone.

**Bam. Yeah, that happened. I know, what am I possibly thinking? Well, I'm thinking that it's cold for one. And that's figurativly and literally at the moment. I hope you liked this chapter, I warned you there was going to be drama. **

**Thanks for reading, review!**

**Kaiai**


	12. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: See previous chapters please.**

**Well hello. I'm sure you are all wondering what's happening now since I left you all with that fabulous cliffhanger. Well, here it is, enjoy the drama. And when I say drama...**

11

Kole was stuck, he couldn't move. His hands were in his pocket and he was still standing next to Austin. Novalee was still passed out in his arms and a tinge of worry tore through him, this couldn't be good for her. It wasn't good for her. Most of the pack was gone but a few groups still lingered. Kole could see the new members, Adelisa included, huddled towards the back of the pavilion. A man, he vaguely recalled being Adelisa's father, was glancing over his shoulder towards Gabriel and Vivian. There were a few other adults there but he couldn't remember who was who.

Another group consisted of Bucky, Jenny, Marc, Brigitte, Tomas, and Esme. They were seated at a picnic table. Brigitte was staring off into space and Marc had his arm around her. Esme staring at Gabriel, and if looks could kill, Gabriel would be buried already.

"Kole?"

Kole jumps, Juliee had snuck up on him. She stands right in front of him, eyes serious. "Dad wants to talk to you."

Kole moves his eyes from his sister to look at his father. Gabriel tilts his head slightly, beckoning him forward. Kole looks down at Novalee, her eyes still closed, he can see the tint of pain on her face as if she's having a nightmare.

He would do anything for this to be a nightmare. He just wanted to wake up in his room, his brother snoring in the next bed.

"Kole! Go talk to dad," Juliee says, smacking his chest. With a deep breath he walks past his sister and towards his father. His mother has disappeared, not really unusual for her.

Gabriel reaches out and puts his arm around Kole's shoulder. He turns their backs on the pavilion and they look out at the woods. "I know you won't understand what I've done, and you most likely are angry for it."

"Understatement," he mumbles.

Gabriel ignores it, something highly unusual for him, "Kole, with Alex gone…"

"Banished," Kole adds.

Gabriel ignores the comment and continues, "With Alex gone this means a lot for you. You are gaining all of his old responsibilities."

Kole pushes his father's arm away, "I don't want them, I never asked for them, give them to someone else."

Gabriel keeps his gaze steady, "And you think Alex asked for them or wanted them? Kole don't doubt yourself in thinking you can't handle this. You are my son, you are strong."

"Look where that got your first son," Kole murmurs as he walks away, turning his back to his father, the leader of his pack. Kole walks straight through the pavilion, through the pack. He feels every eye on him. He could care less.

* * *

Audrei watches, eyes wide, as Kole storms away from Gabriel, her breath catches as she sees the livid look on Kole's face. He marches down the aisle, the pack still present has their eyes locked on him. Not many people could walk away from Gabriel like that.

Audrei felt a hint of respect towards Kole. He was definitely brave. She could never act that way to her father, let alone Gabriel. She couldn't imagine what being the pack leader's son felt like. Especially one that just saw his brother banished from the pack.

With that thought her eyes immediately turned towards Austin and Novalee. They were still sitting outside the pavilion but they were no longer by themselves. Vivian was there, holding Lee's hand. She was awake and Audrei could hear her crying.

Audrei glances at her family. Aurelie had left her to go sit by Brigitte and Marc. Her parents were still here, talking to Ulf. Jaime had disappeared but Baylei was sitting with Juliee on the ground by the stage.

Audrei glanced back to where Kole had disappeared. She bit her lip as she stood, no one paid her any mind, why would they, she was just a nobody in the pack. She slinked away into the dark, running faster as she got farther and farther away. She stopped at the end of the path, she could either go back to her cabin or she could follow the scent.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She turned to her right and followed a new path through the woods. Once she picked up a new path she knew exactly where she was going. She picked her way through the bushes, still in her skin, she didn't want to change.

She came to the rocks a few minutes later, she could see him sitting at the highest point. She made her way up and stood there, studying his back before finally deciding to walk over to him. Audrei sits beside him, their legs pressing together.

She grabs his hand and entwines their fingers. He doesn't say anything, but she can hear him suck in a breath. She smiles as she rests her head on his shoulder.

"It'll be okay," she whispers.

* * *

She knew it was stupid, highly, but she couldn't help her feelings. She was murderously jealous of Novalee. Brigitte glared over at her friend who was wrapped up in Austin's arms. _Her_ Austin's arms, his chin still resting on top of her head, their hands clasped together. Brigitte could barely contain a snarl. She knew she was overreacting, there was nothing between Austin and Novalee, they had been raised as brother and sister. But that couldn't keep the thought away, _they aren't actually related_. Aurelie was comforting her, something Austin should be doing. "I still, it's so hard to believe, he's gone," Aurelie was saying, shaking her head. Brigitte tore her eyes away from Austin and looked at Aurelie. It was weird, both her and Aurelie had dated Alex before he eventually went with Novalee. Good old perfect Novalee who got herself pregnant and her mate kicked out of the pack. _Live with that_ Brigitte thought, smugly. She knew she was being hateful but she couldn't help it, she was pissed.

Marc, seeming to read her thoughts, playfully punched her shoulder, "Brigitte where did you go, you disappeared."

She turned on him, his eyes locked on hers. They seemed to convey so much with just looking at each other that words wouldn't have helped. Aurelie looks between them and sighs, "You know, I know how that works, I'm a twin too you know. If you want me to go just say so next time Brigitte," Aurelie says, getting out of her seat. Marc breaks his gaze away to look at Aurelie, "You don't have to go."

Brigitte is completely outraged, "You have got to be kidding me," she snarls to her brother. Alarmed he looks back at her, "What?"

"Nothing, just nothing. Don't worry about me, I'm fine," she says, standing up. She turns her back on everyone and takes off.

* * *

Marc watches his twin leave in a huff, wondering if he should go after her. Aurelie sinks back down into her seat. "What's wrong with her?"

Marc looks back at her. She's got her hands meshed together, she's biting her lip. Her hair had fallen loose of its bun. He looks back at the direction his sister took off in then back at her. He musters some courage before leaning across the table to kiss her.

It's completely brief, just a soft kiss on the lips. He doesn't give her time to say anything, not worried exactly of what she would say, but what he was going to have to deal with at home. He gets up and takes off after Brigitte.

When he's out of sight from her he looks back, Aurelie still sits at the table, a confused look on her face. With a smile he takes off after Brigitte's scent.

* * *

Kole wandered back to his bed, eventually. He had been completely surprised by Audrei finding him at the rocks. She had only said one thing, "It'll be okay." Those few words made him feel stronger. His father was waiting for him at the cabin. Kole shut the door and stared at his father.

Gabriel didn't speak, only waited for Kole.

"Sorry," Kole muttered, taking off towards his room. He barely caught it but he saw his father nod his head. No one bothered him when he collapsed onto his bed. He half expected his mother to come in and give him a pep talk but no one. He was left with his thoughts.

His brother was banished. He would most likely never see him again. Novalee was pregnant and mate-less, Audrei held his hand, and he was Prince Wolf not just the stand in.

Kole shut his eyes, blocking all of it out except Audrei.

* * *

Vivian was on the roof. That's where he found her anyways. She had wandered around for awhile before ending up there.

She had her eyes closed when he came and sat down beside her. He wrapped an arm around her and she buried her head in his chest.

"Why is my son gone?" she asks.

"He wanted it," he says, stroking her hair. "He asked for it, you didn't see his face. I don't know what happened with him but something did."

"Novalee broke it off with him," she says. Novalee had told her everything when she went to check on her. Vivian had no idea why Novalee felt so insecure about Alex and what put it in her mind to do it but what's done is done.

"That girl, I don't understand," Gabriel mumbles.

Vivian moves and looks at him, "I don't understand why either but it's her choice what she does. But now she's alone, what are we going to do with her? She's still having Alex's pup."

Vivian watches as Gabriel's eyes look out into the dark, "Vivian, I don't know. I can't think about her, I just had to banish my son."

"Our son Gabriel, you just banished our son. Our sixteen year old son is out on his own now. What's he going to do with his life now? He can't come back here. He won't finish school, what are we even going to tell the school?"

"I've already got that covered," Gabriel says, eyes still distant.

"What covered?" Vivian asks, pulling his face towards hers. He takes a finger and draws it down her nose to land on her lips.

"All of it."

**Well, well, interesting don't you think? Sorry no Alex in this one, maybe the next one...  
But there was Marc, that one isn't very usual. Hope you guys enjoyed!**

**Thanks for reading, review!**

**Kaiai **


	13. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: See previous chapters.**

**So tired, can think of no witty things. Enjoy.**

12

He knew who was knocking before he got up to open the door. He'd already heard the news. Still, he hesitated before turning the knob. He might not be pack, but he still had ties. This could damage his standing.

* * *

Novalee didn't go to school for a few days. She couldn't face people. She was surprised Esme let her stay home but she couldn't bring herself to think too much into it. Austin was always stopping by, asking her if she needed anything. He was beginning to get annoying.

She only needed one thing, to apologize. She knew it was her fault Alex was banished. She had broken up with him the day before. How could she have broken up with him?

She buried herself in a tent of blankets, letting her sorrow drown her.

* * *

Jaime didn't know what to do. She was once again, avoiding her house. She was walking through the woods, kicking pebbles out of her way.

She did not want to go to another pack meeting. After the last one all of her agemates were scared out of their minds. If Gabriel could banish his own son, what would he do to the rest of them? There was no misbehaving, from no one. Not even the younger ones. Hell, even Adelisa was behaving.

Jaime had heard, not eavesdropping, that Adelisa's father had challenged Gabriel about his leadership abilities. That he accused of Gabriel of being lax. Well, Gabriel sure proved him wrong.

Blayze, Adelisa's father, hadn't spoken up about anything since. Jaime didn't like either of them. Adelisa because she was just a bitch, and Blayze because he just annoyed her.

Who the hell would challenge Gabriel? Idiot.

* * *

Kole was amazed at how fast his father worked. Gabriel had went with him to school, 'dropping him off' he said. He then went to talk to the principal about Alex.

Someone apparently was in the office during the discussion. And amongst the "Oh my god, Alex's dad is hot" gossip there was the story. Alex was now apparently staying with family down south. Or he was enrolled in military school. Or he was on an internship to France. The rumors made Kole's head spin.

No one seemed to tell the same story.

Kole sat down at a table outside. He pushed his tray of food away and laid his head down. The other's quickly surrounded him.

"Since when is Alex campaigning through the desert?"

"Huh, I heard he was in Florida with his grandmother."

Kole covers his ears, "I don't want to hear anymore. He's in Charleston."

Every voice disappeared. He had to look up to make sure they hadn't left him. Everyone was staring at him. Jaime quirked a brow, "How do you know that? You're not supposed to have any contact."

He rolled his eyes, "Where else is he going to go? That's the closest pack, he's sixteen. He can't do anything in the world. They'll take him in, he's not a threat he didn't murder anyone."

"You seem pretty sure," Brigitte remarks. She twirls a piece of her hair. That's when Kole noticed Austin was sitting on the opposite end from her. He'd have to ask him about that later.

"You want the truth? Fine, we talked about it when they found out Novalee was pregnant. Alex thought Gabriel would do something like that so he made a plan."

"Novalee is pregnant?"

The entire table froze. Kole's nostrils flared, the scent of a human girl burning in the air.

"Mind your own business Brittany," Austin snarls.

Kole closes his eyes, he royally screwed up. But an idea pops into his mind. He stands up and turns towards her, throwing on a smile. She stands there, a bag slung over her shoulder. She looks at him with suspicion. "Brittany," he says. His smile confuses her, he can see it in her eyes. He throws an arm around her, "Let's have a chat."

* * *

Audrei watches Kole walk off with Brittany, completely stunned she just stares.

"What the bloody moon was that?" Marc asks. They all watch as Kole and Brittany turn a corner.

"I think I'm gonna puke," Brigitte gags.

"He's like a little Alex."

Audrei shakes her head at the babble, "No, he's more cunning."

* * *

Kole takes Brittany away from the table, far far away from the pack. She chatters the whole way. When they're out of sight Kole stops and stares at her. He watches as her eyes shift from confusion to fear.

"If I hear one word about what you overheard I won't hesitate to tell what I know about you."

Her face does a 180, fear being replaced by stubborn human arrogance. "You don't know anything."

"You would be surprised what I know Brittany. You dated my brother remember? Shouldn't spill secrets to someone so quickly."

Her face pales and with that Kole leaves her. He goes back to the table. They stop talking as he takes his seat. He pretends as if nothing happened and begins to eat his lunch.

Silence surrounds him, an enjoyable silence. That is until Brigitte drops her fork down, "Pansies, bloody moon, Kole what did you do to her?"

Kole finishes his bite of burger and shrugs his shoulders. "Not much, just told her not to tell and I wouldn't tell."

"Tell what, you have something on her?" Jaime asks, always the gossiper.

"Nope, not at all."

* * *

The pack meeting tonight had everyone on edge. Jaime sat at her table, between her father and her sister. Baylei was picking at a sliver of wood while her father stared up at the stage. Her father had a crazy amount of respect for Gabriel, then again Gabriel had taken him in when he was a teenager.

* * *

Vivian was livid. She could barely contain her anger. Gabriel was speaking now but she wanted to jump to her feet and take over, spitting out the words Gabriel would say calmly.

Vivian was far from pleased, and Vivian pissed was not a Vivian people liked.

Gabriel spoke about business first, things about the Inn and the developing cabins. Normal stuff. That is until he got to the change.

Vivian closes her eyes as she hears Gabriel take a deep breath. "I'm also hear to recognize a new couple." She could hear the stress in his words, he was gritting his teeth.

The pack buzzed slightly but kept it low. "Blayze has taken a mate in Amelia."

* * *

Jaime jerked her eyes up to Gabriel. She could not have heard him right. Gabriel was actually staring at her, his eyes looked sympathetic.

She turned to her father. He gave her a sheepish half smile, "Jaime it's going to be fine."

The fact he was taking this infuriated her. She stood up and found her mother sitting with _him. _Adelisa gave her a smug look.

"You bitch," she spat, glaring at her mother. The entire pack hushed as Jaime got up. She left them behind, tearing off into the woods. Tears welling at her eyes, she was not going to let Adelisa see her fall apart. Her family had not been in the best of places for a few weeks but she had never thought her mother would leave her father. She never thought her father wouldn't fight for his mate.

She found herself splashing into the creek, her jeans getting soaked. She didn't care. She found she was too furious to even change. Jaime plopped down where she was standing. She closed her eyes and rested her head on her knees.

"This is not happening," she murmurs.

"Jaime?" a voice calls out from behind her. She flies to her feet, her teeth sharpening.

Bret holds his hands up in defense, "Hey, sorry, I was just checking on you."

She immediately softens up, "I'm sorry."

He walks through the long grass toward her, "Hey no worries, I did sneak up on you."

"Still, I seem to keep doing that to you."

"It's a natural response, we all do it." He was standing right in front of her now. She had to crane her neck to look up at him, he was so much taller than her. Not hard really, she was so short.

"I'm sorry about your dad. If it makes you feel better I heard he did fight."

Surprise filled her, "Really?"

Bret nodded, "Yeah, it was a few weeks ago though, I don't know why it took this long for it to get out."

Jaime's mind whirled. She remembered not seeing her dad for a few days but she had thought it had to do with the construction. She instantly felt horrible for thinking low of her father.

She turned away from him and walked farther into the field. She sat down again, clasping her hands around her legs. She stared up at the sky, the stars were out and a sliver of a moon. She heard Bret come up beside her, he sat down too and looked up.

They didn't say a word the rest of the night.

**I threw so many hints about Jaime's parents. Did anyone catch them? If not, were you surprised? And what about Austin and Brigitte? And who do you think the first narrator was? So many things happened in this chapter, some were easy to see, some not so much.**

**Hope you enjoyed, thanks for reading, review!**

**Kaiai**


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